Chinese Police Use AI-Powered Smart Glasses To Track And Capture Criminals

The concept of smart glasses has not taken hold in the consumer sector, even when a company like Google was pushing the technology. Whether the timing was simply off or if the technology is not something consumers are ultimately interested in, it doesn't mean there is not a market to be had. Just ask China—local police in Beijing are testing out the use of smart glasses as security tools at highway checkpoints.

According to Reuters, the smart glasses are made by LLVision. Using artificial intelligence technology, the smart glasses scan people's facial features and car registration plates, and then match the data up in real-time with a database of suspects. If one of the occupants in a vehicle is listed in a centralized blacklist, the smart glasses will alert the wearer by showing a red box and a warning sign.

"[China's] leadership once felt a degree of trepidation over the advancement of the internet and communication technologies," said David Bandurski, co-director of the China Media Project, a media studies research project at the University of Hong Kong. "It now sees them as absolutely indispensable tools of social and political control."

China's leaders have been pushing to increase the use of technology to bolster security. However, there are those who oppose the idea, out of fear that China will become an increasingly sophisticated surveillance state. Part of the fear is that authorities and other people of power in China would ultimately use the technology and increased surveillance to find and punish dissenters.

As far as LLVision is concerned, there is nothing to worry about. The company points out that police in China are using its smart glasses for "noble causes." LLVision also said it trusts the government

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